Notes of Orange
And some things I made this month
In case you didn’t know, self-publishing your own print magazine is now a thing. For example Ali LaBelle has one that I’m SURE is gorgeous because everything she designs is - but it’s $18 for 36 pages so I’m gonna have to pass.
That said, it got me thinking about how nice it would be to hold something I’ve made with my own two hands. So this month I formatted and printed some projects… just for me and just for fun. None of which are for sale. :)
My Recipe Collection
This book might look pretty from the outside but it’s a handmade mess on the inside. Each page is a photocopy of a stained piece of paper with scribbles in the margins. I couldn’t sell this book even if I wanted to because all the photos and recipes are downloaded from the internet or photocopied from cookbooks I own or borrowed. But it sure is a handy thing to have in my kitchen. And maybe it will make a good Christmas present?
My Monthly Journal Project
A few months ago I started printing out my journal pages at the end of every month. Okay, first of all, I can’t believe I write nearly ten thousand words per month just to keep myself close to sane. Second, I think it’ll be fun at the end of the year to flip through all my old issues… get it? ;)
My Artist’s Notebook
Calling the contents of this book “art” is generous. It’s more like a notebook filled with art therapy in the form of scribbles, free writing, ephemera, copied poems and pictures I found on the internet. Some of the pages are stuck together because I tried to glue in some leaves I collected on a walk. This is morae like a child’s exercise book. But I can’t tell you how much fun it is to use scissors and a glue stick!
In other news, I went to Hastings, England this month! I saw wild horses running through the hills and a nudist having breakfast. Plus I spent some long overdue quality time with family and friends (none of whom are nudists). OH! And I had the very best pizza I’ve ever had in my entire life at a pizzeria called Monellis. On the southeast coast of England of all places.
Finally - My favourite novel of the month is The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. If you’re into poetry, I’m also really enjoying The Poetry Pharmacy Forever and Amanda Gorman’s Call us What we Carry.
xo,
L
Notes of Orange, image credits:
First Row: 1. Rose Clearfield, 2. Andre Brasilier, 3. Sarah Jarrett, 4. The back stacks at The London Library
Second Row: 1. Karyn Lyons, 2. Nancy Drew, 3. unknown (Pinterest), 4. Jamie Chase
Third Row: 1. David Burdeny, 2. Yikartu Bumba Turlapunja, 3. Art Unlimited Market, etsy, 4. Sally Strand
Fourth Row: 1. Guo Fengyi, 2. Mark Monroe Preston (?), 3. Karyn Lyons, 4. Les Goodman (?)
I think that's brilliant to collate your free writing together. Some days I feel unproductive because what I've written is for me rather than public consumption, but writing is writing. It's only in the act of writing that I feel like a writer.